Any professional sportsman or athlete will tell you that sports are as much an affair of the mind as it is a matter of body. A winning attitude is every bit as important to maintaining a competitive lifestyle as is the training and workouts that go into it.

Competitions at the higher standards demand an unmatched level of mental acuity and spirit.

The many benefits of having strong attitudes when training reach far beyond the promise of impressive results, they also contribute to maximizing the efficiency of a workout while helping to go that extra mile.

Here’s a list of healthy attitudes to foster in the gym, on the court or even at office.
 

 

Be a winner

 

A winning mindset is more than just a delusion of grandeur, having a healthy level of ambition goes a long way in ensuring you better yourself day in and day out.

It’s not about wanting to win an Olympic gold medal while you’re skipping gym every week, it’s more about wanting to attain realistic medium term goals that will push you out of your comfort zone into the progress you always wanted to achieve.

 

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Make time for rest

 

It’s important to maintain a state of mind where your journey to being fitter, stronger or better is grounded by a commitment to your goal. Rest is every bit as important as training is and there’s no point if you slave at the gym and then hit a late night out with your friends.

The end result is to stuff your system with unnecessary junk while breaking all important rest time. Try to make a commitment and sacrifices necessary to facilitate the required levels of rest and training.
 

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No distractions
 

 

Whether it’s junk food, the TV at the gym or your best friend wanting to skip gym and hit the arcade, training has very little margin for distractions.

An important tactic employed by many people is to listen to music when in the gym to drown out the noise of all the clutter that goes on around them. It’s important to filter out the distractions within the time slot dedicated for training.

 

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Investing in the right things

 

Spending thousands on unnecessary gimmick supplements doesn’t count as a worthy investment but buying the right pair of shoes for your training does. It’s important to invest in correct gear and optimum levels of nutrition when training.

Compromising on requirements such as proper attire and equipment may result in an injury while a lack of interest in obtaining the necessary levels of nutrition will warrant the same and worse consequences.

 

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Pro help

 

Getting a qualified instructor or coach to help you out is neither a blow on your ego nor a waste of your time. There’s a reason why some of us are called professionals and others aren’t.

There’s a good chance that you’ll come across many phonies who claim to be qualified but really aren’t however it’s important to note that the right qualifications grant people an edge over the rest of us, an edge that can be employed to our benefit if we get off of out high horses and ask for help.

There’s surely a reason why most of the top athletes in the world employ top coaches to help them.

 

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Food is just fuel

Indulging in food is a luxury unknown to many athletes at the highest levels, this is not to say that we should forego on enjoying our favourite meals but moderation really is key.

It’s important to understand that food plays a major role even past the point of having been gulped down our throats. The role food plays as a fuel is the most important one to consider when training, bad fuel will not power you regardless of how good it tastes.

 

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Track progress

 

Always monitor your results on a regular basis, maybe every 3 months or maybe even monthly. What’s most important is to gauge your progress and learn from it.

If you’ve hit a plateau something needs to be done to get yourself out of it, that’s the entire point of tracking your progress. 

 

 

By DIlshan Senaratne